Originally posted at
Blackstar's Diary re the Canadian Election
Set your watch back 10 years to '96
As an admittedly sloppy analogy for our American friends, albeit one that must look pretty damn sweet to any American in 2006.
(Apologies are extended for the Xmas rudeness of Dec. 26-28 which occurred when Situationists invaded the Howth of Murph and left offensive comments. Things have returned to moderate-Canadian in the Howth, and a Royal Commission has been enacted to study what went wrong.)
So it's 1996...
We have a business-friendly, centre-left and thoroughly competent government that's unraveled some pieces of the Canadian social safety net, but not irredeemably. The economy and GDP are performing well. Our international reputation remains excellent. A good degree of cronyism and corruption has come to light... yeah, they're swine, but they're still our swine and better than the alternative, who'd like to introduce reactionary policy that appeals to the lesser angels of disgruntled Anglo-Canadian-Christian values, and who are especially NOT to be trusted due to their friends and funders who reflect made-in-the-USA white Christian intolerance and untrammeled capitalism.
As tempting as an NDP Northern-European-style Social Democrat agenda is... and it really IS to me... I am going to hold my nose and vote Liberal, because at this impasse, it is the right thing to do, especially in my Riding. And when I say hold my nose, I mean it, because my Liberal candidate was (rightly/wrongly and politically) punished for his voting against the Government's same-sex-marriage legislation and wound up truly harming his constituency by losing a Cabinet post... but here he was trying to appease his ethnic-Catholic base. The same candidate has always talked a Pro-Life game to this same base, but to our credit, abortion rights are so entrenched that only an extremist agenda (which is why every moderate-- sensible person-- avoids the Reform/Conservative flank) would even attempt to compromise a woman's right to choose, and would ultimately fail. Our unelected Senate (which frothing Conservatives hate more than ANYTHING) really do have the fiat of philosopher kings, and we are unlikely to ever see the return of capital punishment or denial of abortion rights because they simply cannot be upheld on a legal-philosophical level of justice. Gay marriage rights abide as well... as the Liberal proponents put it, "It's the Charter, stupid" i.e., EQUAL rights under the Charter of Rights.
There is a mirror here between the French-Italian-Irish Catholic and more recent-immigrant-Asian-Canadian bases that have created the Liberal machines in Canada and the Democratic machines in the US... versus a White-Anglo-Protestant establishment/Disaffected rural social-conservative base that makes for the Conservative/Repub allegory.
But it's the New Democratic Party as the solid social-democrat third way that makes our system even better. I'd vote for them, but not in my Riding this time around.
And the Bloc Quebecois are such a totally-curious joker in the pack... funny how a party who should be SHOT FOR TREASON <snark> may wind up playing kingmaker in a country they want to secede from, depending on the alliances they choose.
I think we'll be stuck with a weakened Liberal minority come Jan. 23. Should be interesting.
I like it here.